Wrench



A. M. SHENK AND A. AND L. SALTZER.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED mus, 1921.

1,394,225, A Patented Oct. 18, 1921. 1 76.1. 1 76.2. F163.

INVENTORS ADOLPHl JMSHENK ANDREW SALTZ R Lou/s SALTZE 4 UNITE ADOLPEUS1Y1. SHENK, ANDREW sanrzna, aim Louis sanrznn, or osmium, GALI- FORNIA;SAID ANDREW snmrznn AND sarnnours sALrznn AssIeNoas or one- SIXTH OF THEENTIRE RIGHT TO SAID WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1s, 1921,

Application filed January 3, 1921. Serial No. 434,699.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, AnoLrHUs M. SHENK, ANDREW SALTZER, andLOUISSALTZER, citi- Zens of the United States, residing at CaleXico, inthe county of Imperial and State of California, have invented new anduseful Improvements in lVrenches, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in wrenches of thegeneral type employing fixed and movable jaws, and which are generallyused for the manipulation of bolts and nuts and for rotating or forgripping and holding against rotation objects such as pipes, rods andthe like.

The principal objects of our invention are to provide a relativelysimple, strong and durable wrench, and to construct the movable jaw andits support or carrier so that it can be disengaged from the shank ofthe wrench, shifted toward or away from the fixed jaw so as to adjustthe width of the opening between the jaws to the work or object that isto be engaged, and to reengage said movable jaw with said shank andeffectively lock it thereto after adjustment relative to the fixed jaw.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, our invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts thatwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front, elevational view of a. wrench constructed inaccordance with our invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the wrench.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken approximately on the line3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings which illustrate apractical embodiment of our invention, 10 designates the body or shankof the wrench, the same being formed from a straight bar of metal, thelower end of which is formed into a handle 11, and the upper end beingprovided with an integrally formed, laterally projecting jaw 12. Theunder side of this jaw may be substantially flat, and provided withsmall teeth or corrugations, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The underside ofsaid jaw may be provided with an angular recess 13 of such shape as toengage the angular faces of a therewith hexagonal member such as a nutor the head of a bolt.

Qne edge of the shank 10 below fixed jaw 12 is provided with a series oftransversely disposed teeth 1 1-, and adapted to engage are similarteeth 15 that are formed on the inner face of a wedge-shaped block 16,the latter carrying at its upper end an integrally formed, laterallyprojecting jaw 17. This movable jaw is adapted to cooperate with jaw 12to engage a member that is to be gripped and held or rotated, and thisupper face may be flat or it may be notched or recessed, as illustratedin Fig. 1.

A wedge-shaped block 16 is loosely arranged in a tapered pocket 18 thatis formed in the upper portion of a sleeve 19, which latter issubstantially square or rectangular in cross section, and adapted toslide freely upon shank 10.

Formed in the inclined wall 20 in front of the pocket 18 is a verticallydisposed slot 21, and passing therethrough is a pin or screw 22 that isseated in the lower portion of wedge-shaped block 16. In the event thatmember 22 is in the form of a screw, a washer such as 23 is positionedbetween the head of said screw and the outer face of wall 20.

When movable jaw 17 is adjusted to the desired position and locked inthis position to shank 10, the various movable parts occupy thepositions illustrated by solid lines in Fig. 3, and, by virtue of theposition of the wedge-shaped block 16 that carries the movable jaw inthe tapered recess 18, said block is firmly held so that its teeth 15engage certain of the teeth 14, thereby firmly holding t ie movable jawin its adjusted position. To enable the movable jaw to be adjusted ineither direction upon the shank, sleeve 19 is manually engaged andforced downwardly upon shank 10, and such action moves the inclined wall20 away from the outer face of wedge block 16 a sufficient distance topermit the teeth 15 of said wedge block to be disengaged from the teeth14, on the shank, after which the sleeve and jaw carrying block 16 canbe shifted lengthwise upon the shank, and consequently increasing ordecreasing the space between jaws 12 and 1?. After proper adjustment hasbeen effected, sleeve 19 is moved downwardly relative' to wedge block 16and shank 10, and such movement causes inclined wall v2O to bear againstthe outer face 01": (said Wedge bloclg and consequently bringing about afirm and substantially interlocking engagement between the teeth 15 and14.

A wrench of our improved construction is comparatively simple,islcapable of being easily and cheaply produced, is quick acting in thatits movable'jaw can bereadily adjusted toward or away from the fixed jaw, and said wrench is very efiective in performing its intendedfunctions.

it will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form andconstruction :of the variousparts of our improvedwrench mayvbeinadeandsubstitute'd for those herein shown and described without departing.hold, a wedge block in said pocketadapted to adjust-ably clamp saidsleeve to said shank, saidisleeve being slotted, and an operating memberprojecting from said block through said slot and conveniently positionedwith relation to said hand hold.

In testimony whereof we :have signed our names to this specification.

ADOLPHUSM. SHENK. .ANDRElV SALTZER.

LOUIS SALTZER.

